It’s been a loooong while since I’ve posted and I’m hoping that’ll change.  The last post was an explanation as to how I hate the month of February, and that bled all the way into March.  Winter in Ottawa has been a pain, with snow last Monday.  Finally, the good weather is back, and so am I.

Quick summary of the past 2 months.

• Lost ~25lbs
• Added and removed about 50 games from my tablet
• Played and completed (well, sort of ) the Witness
• Bought, installed and am running a Raspberry Pi Minecraft server, that my 5 year old loves
• Went down south for March break with the kids and had a blast
• Started a new project at work, which will allow our Prime Minister to do his job a bit better

Games

TapTap Far Away Kingdom is the main tablet game at the moment.  It’s a simpler version of Tap Titans, without multiplayer, and doesn’t require me to smash my screen.  I wrote a quick guide for it too.  I can just let it run idle for a while.  There are many idle games on the market, and it’s hard to find the one with just the correct amount of user interaction.  I’d prefer not to break my wrists.

I’m back into Minecraft after a couple years off.  My 5 year old is enamored with it at school and wanted to give it a try at home.  I had first tried to set up a server on my NAS, which event though it had the server specs, it wasn’t able to take the load.  So I bought a gen3 Raspberry Pi and within an hour, the server was up and running.  Less than $100, case & cables, and it was going.  Very impressed.

I’m also playing The Division, which is I guess like Destiny but for PC.  There’s no MMO part of it, unless you’re actively in a group or a PvP (well, half PvP) zone, which makes for a really empty game.  The mechanics are decent, the content is so-so.  I got a good deal on the purchase, so why not?  I don’t really have much time to play though.

Health

I jumped back on the health train a few months ago, using a personal exercise plan and paying attention to what I eat.  I get a 30 minute walk for lunch, and then another 30-60 minutes of exercise after the kids hit the hay.  It’s had a pretty drastic impact on my hockey speed (imagine carrying a case of beer strapped to your body).  My wife is also on this trek, which makes meal prep a whole lot easier.

I picked up a Fitbit ChargeHR which tracks steps, distance, heart rate and stairs.  That combined with MyFitnessPal app allows me to track my meals (calories + macros), weight, and calorie expenditure.  It is stupid easy to setup and once you’ve tinkered with a few things, it’s about 10 seconds to log a meal, with exercises being synced automatically.  It’s magic I tell you.

Upcoming

We’ve bought and are closing a purchase on a lake front cottage, with possession starting in June.  My number one stress relief activity is fishing, and given that I don’t have time to do much of it, having a cottage will change that fact.  Sure, it’s a massive debt load and responsibility, but it’s also a financial and sanity investment.  I have excellent memories of the cottage life as a child, and it’s something my wife and I want to share with our kids.

First of Many

I’ll try to keep on track with regular posts moving forward.  The next one will deal with a geek market I brought the family to visit over the weekend.  It’s rather clear that my eldest is a geek like her dad, with some spark in the younger one as well.  Not to say that my wife’s excitement at seeing Ninja Turtle action figures wasn’t cool as well.  There’s a lot to say there, so I’ll wait a bit.